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8 Steps to Take When You Feel Like Giving Up
Taking the easy road is nice for a while, but for talented, motivated people it isn’t enough. To find satisfaction you’ll need to set ambitious goals, solve challenging problems, and develop strengths you may not know you have.
Although the hard road is more fulfilling, it isn’t all champagne and victory laps. There will be times when you feel beaten and depressed — times when quitting looks like the best option. There is no formula for dealing with hard times, but these 8 steps will help you understand your predicament and determine the best course of action.
1. Take a Break
One reason we get down ourselves is fatigue. When you’re tired everything is harder. Working your tail off for extended periods will wear you down if you aren’t careful. You’ll also get bored. Fatigue and boredom combine to cause burnout — one of the biggest reasons people quit. When faced with burnout, the best thing to do is take a break. Cut yourself off completely. Do absolutely nothing for a day or two. What’s the worst that could happen? By allowing yourself to recover you’ll be more productive in the long run.
2. Step Back
Sometimes we get so absorbed in our own sphere that we develop a distorted picture of reality. When you feel like giving up, there’s a good chance that a) things aren’t nearly as bad as they seem, and b) there’s a simple solution that you’re overlooking. When things seem bleak, distance yourself from the situation to gain an accurate perspective. What would someone without any emotional involvement do? Asking this question will help you make optimal decisions.
3. Do Your Research
The only constant in the universe is change, but when you’re plugging away with your head down it’s easy not to notice. People often make decisions based on outdated assumptions made months, or even years earlier. To develop a course of action, you’ll need to know where you stand. Stop to evaluate your position.
* What do you have?
* What do you want?
* How has the market adjusted?
* What opportunities still exist?
* What new opportunities have arisen?
By taking stock of the current situation, you’ll discover if your urge to quit is a passing whim or the correct decision.
4. Consult an Expert
When your knowledge base is insufficient you should seek an expert opinion. This doesn’t mean you have to make contact with a world class expert, anyone who knows more than you will be able to help. Think of friends, family, and business associates. Have any of them been in your position before? The web can also be a great resource, just be careful who you trust. Check out relevant forums or email a reputable blogger. I’m consistently impressed with the effort people expend to help total strangers.
5. Re-evaluate Your Strategy
Once you’re well informed, apply that knowledge to revamping your strategy. If you feel like giving up, you might be doing something wrong. This is the time to pour over your efforts and determine what works.
* What actions have lead to the greatest benefit?
* What mistakes have been made?
* What can be improved?
By answering these questions you’ll fine tune your strategy. The urge to give up is a blessing when it leads to analysis and constructive adjustments.
6. Change Course
Knowing what’s wrong and how you can fix it is a relief. Unlike an invisible monster hovering over you, an exposed problem can be directly assaulted. Once you’ve determined a change needs to be made, implement it full force. Don’t hesitate or dwell on past mistakes. Trust your own judgment and deal with new issues as they arise.
7. Push Through the Dip
In some cases you might feel like giving up even though you’re doing all the right things. This is called “the dip” — the plateau that separates the average from the best in the world. Knowing what to do when you hit the dip is so important, Seth Godin wrote a book on it. In you’ve hit the dip and you can honestly say that going forward is the best decision, lower your shoulder and plow ahead until you reach the other side. It might not be pleasant but the rewards are tremendous. If you make it.
8. Quit
We don’t have thoughts and emotions for nothing. Sometimes quitting is the best decision. Maybe you didn’t know what you were getting into. Maybe your priorities have changed. Maybe you’d be better doing something else. If you know deep down that quitting is the right move, do it. Don’t hesitate because of previously invested effort. That’s a sunk cost. If you ignore your better judgment and continue you’ll waste more time and energy.
Original source of the article can be found at http://www.pickthebrain.com
Although the hard road is more fulfilling, it isn’t all champagne and victory laps. There will be times when you feel beaten and depressed — times when quitting looks like the best option. There is no formula for dealing with hard times, but these 8 steps will help you understand your predicament and determine the best course of action.
1. Take a Break
One reason we get down ourselves is fatigue. When you’re tired everything is harder. Working your tail off for extended periods will wear you down if you aren’t careful. You’ll also get bored. Fatigue and boredom combine to cause burnout — one of the biggest reasons people quit. When faced with burnout, the best thing to do is take a break. Cut yourself off completely. Do absolutely nothing for a day or two. What’s the worst that could happen? By allowing yourself to recover you’ll be more productive in the long run.
2. Step Back
Sometimes we get so absorbed in our own sphere that we develop a distorted picture of reality. When you feel like giving up, there’s a good chance that a) things aren’t nearly as bad as they seem, and b) there’s a simple solution that you’re overlooking. When things seem bleak, distance yourself from the situation to gain an accurate perspective. What would someone without any emotional involvement do? Asking this question will help you make optimal decisions.
3. Do Your Research
The only constant in the universe is change, but when you’re plugging away with your head down it’s easy not to notice. People often make decisions based on outdated assumptions made months, or even years earlier. To develop a course of action, you’ll need to know where you stand. Stop to evaluate your position.
* What do you have?
* What do you want?
* How has the market adjusted?
* What opportunities still exist?
* What new opportunities have arisen?
By taking stock of the current situation, you’ll discover if your urge to quit is a passing whim or the correct decision.
4. Consult an Expert
When your knowledge base is insufficient you should seek an expert opinion. This doesn’t mean you have to make contact with a world class expert, anyone who knows more than you will be able to help. Think of friends, family, and business associates. Have any of them been in your position before? The web can also be a great resource, just be careful who you trust. Check out relevant forums or email a reputable blogger. I’m consistently impressed with the effort people expend to help total strangers.
5. Re-evaluate Your Strategy
Once you’re well informed, apply that knowledge to revamping your strategy. If you feel like giving up, you might be doing something wrong. This is the time to pour over your efforts and determine what works.
* What actions have lead to the greatest benefit?
* What mistakes have been made?
* What can be improved?
By answering these questions you’ll fine tune your strategy. The urge to give up is a blessing when it leads to analysis and constructive adjustments.
6. Change Course
Knowing what’s wrong and how you can fix it is a relief. Unlike an invisible monster hovering over you, an exposed problem can be directly assaulted. Once you’ve determined a change needs to be made, implement it full force. Don’t hesitate or dwell on past mistakes. Trust your own judgment and deal with new issues as they arise.
7. Push Through the Dip
In some cases you might feel like giving up even though you’re doing all the right things. This is called “the dip” — the plateau that separates the average from the best in the world. Knowing what to do when you hit the dip is so important, Seth Godin wrote a book on it. In you’ve hit the dip and you can honestly say that going forward is the best decision, lower your shoulder and plow ahead until you reach the other side. It might not be pleasant but the rewards are tremendous. If you make it.
8. Quit
We don’t have thoughts and emotions for nothing. Sometimes quitting is the best decision. Maybe you didn’t know what you were getting into. Maybe your priorities have changed. Maybe you’d be better doing something else. If you know deep down that quitting is the right move, do it. Don’t hesitate because of previously invested effort. That’s a sunk cost. If you ignore your better judgment and continue you’ll waste more time and energy.
Original source of the article can be found at http://www.pickthebrain.com
Basic Ways to Exponentially Improve Your Productivity
Paul J. Meyer says, “Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” This cannot be any truer. To be successful in your career (or anything for that matter), your productivity must shine.
Don’t limit yourself. If you want to get things done in the least amount of time with the best results you need to follow these steps.
1. Turn off your TV.
Besides being a brainwashing tool, TV eats away four hours a day from time you could spend doing more productive things. Four hours a day? That’s ten years spent watching TV if you plan on living past seventy five.
2. Checklists.
No brainer here. Make a checklist of things you need to get done, then go bullet by bullet. So simple yet so effective.
3. Harder things come first.
If you built yourself a to-do list (which you should), tackle your hard tasks first, don’t save them for last. If you finish them you have nothing to worry about as your tasks will only get easier. This will set a great outlook for the rest of the day and keep your mentality afloat.
4. Consolidate.
Take a look at your checklist and see if you can put somethings together. If you’re going out for errands, try to do them all at once, if you’re calling clients, schedule a period to do them all in one stint.
5. Early to sleep, early to rise.
Getting up at 6AM is a drag I’ll admit. However you’ll be surprised how much more you can get done as opposed to waking up at 2PM. Grab a coffee and go. Of course if you’re waking up earlier, you’re going to need more sleeping hours so going to bed a couple of hours earlier is a must.
6. Say “No”.
Carefully strategize your options and your goals (as well as your tasks). Say no to things that are outside those bounds that are not helping you meet your goals. Keep focused on the important tasks at hand.
7. Start now.
Stop holding off! You’re big projects will just get even bigger with time on their side. Dive in and take a chance, build or demolish your goals brick by brick.
8. Leave time for non-urgent (but necessary) activities.
Schedule time during your day when you work only on non-urgent yet necessary activities like e-mails, phone calls, paying bills, etc.
9. Each day is different, respect that.
What I like to do is prioritize my days differently. Friday is more relaxed so I can focus more on my general & fun projects while Mondays I focus on organizing and planning for the week ahead of me. Wednesdays I use as a marker to see how far I am and the type of progress I need to be showing.
10. Get a ‘The Office’ calendar.
The Office Calendar will at least remind you that it could be a lot worse ;-). Write down all your important meetings and to-do’s, stuff that you can’t fit on post-it notes.
11. Sticky notes wall.
I used to categorize all my tasks onto sticky notes. One sticky note per task. I then put them on the wall of my office as a big collage and when I finished one, I’d ‘X’ it out. This was a great way for me to visually see the progress I was making however it ended up taking up too much space.
12. Reward yourself.
Keep yourself motivated by setting rewards for completing big tasks. This could be anything from a movie ticket to a football game or a gift of some kind. This way you’ll have more push rather then just the obvious monetary gains.
13. Take breaks.
Another no-brainer. Give yourself time to relax and let your thoughts drift. If you’re workhorsing for twelve hours a day with no breaks, eventually you will go insane. Take the time to sit back and look at everything your doing to get some fresh perspective on it.
14. Do your shopping online.
Why run to the story when a diligent UPS or FedEx worker can carry it to your door? You’d also be surprised on how much you can save by shopping online. Here are some great store links:
http://amazon.com
http://half.com
http://overstock.com
http://bestbuy.com
http://newegg.com
15. Automatic bill pay.
Most banks offer this, take advantage of it! You’ll save that extra 1-2 hours paying your bills, spend it doing something more productive.
16. Direct deposits.
Most employers offer this now. Save that trip to the bank, having to wait in line to cash your check. Get it directly deposited every other Friday. Let your employers do the work.
17. The Pareto Principle.
Recently read up on a ‘improve your personal finance’ book and it covered the Pareto Principle. It basically states the 80-20 rule, which is that 80% of the value of a task comes from 20% of the effort. Focus the bulk of your energy on that critical 20%, and don’t spend too much time on the non-critical 80%. For more about the Pareto Principle, click here.
18. Review yourself at the end of the day.
Before you go home from work, sit down and run through your checklist. Be proud of the things you accomplished and focus on the things you left to be done. Sit back and re-organize your new objectives.
19. Make your workspace comfortable.
Use a chair that is ergonomic and conforms to your back. Be sure to get up and stretch every hour or so and make sure that you are working in good lighting.
20. Keep your software and hardware running smooth.
How are you going to get things done with tons of spywar and adaware on your computer? Make sure to keep your hardware and software and check and be security conscious. Want some good anti-adware and spyware tools? Check these out:
SpyBot
Ad-Aware
21. Use computer short-cuts.
Take the time to check out what the common keyboard shortcuts are. Stop using your mouse to copy and paste, use Ctrl+C, and CTRL+V! Here is a link to Common Windows XP Computer Shortcuts.
22. Set deadlines, use alarms.
My T-Mobile Dash calendar is overflowing with alarms, to-do lists and other things to keep track of my ideas, goals and tasks. Use alarms and deadline notifications to help you keep yourself in check.
23. Enjoy your meals.
Yep, you heard me right. Take the time out to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner properly with the necessary time to de-stress yourself from the common difficulties of a normal everyday life. Get back to reality and cool off. Food is crucial, if you are well fed and feeling good, you’ll be able to get a lot more done once you resume your work.
24. If you’re using FireFox, use these tools to improve your productivity.
LifeHack recently published this great article: Top 10 FireFox Extensions to Improve Your Productivity. Definitely a worthwhile read.
25. Coffee/caffeine.
Another no-brainer but it works. Without my coffee in the AM I can hardly keep away. Coffee keeps me focused and alive for the majority of the day (and it tastes good :)).
Two more for the road…
26. Break things up.
Kind of touched on this already but its worth noting again. Break things up. Those major daunting tasks will seem a lot easier when their smashed into bits and pieces.
27. Team up and stay focused.
Having someone either on your back or helping you will make you push yourself harder. However, don’t let this get in the way of the work - cut out the procrastination.
Original source of these tips can be found at http://cashbulge.com
Don’t limit yourself. If you want to get things done in the least amount of time with the best results you need to follow these steps.
1. Turn off your TV.
Besides being a brainwashing tool, TV eats away four hours a day from time you could spend doing more productive things. Four hours a day? That’s ten years spent watching TV if you plan on living past seventy five.
2. Checklists.
No brainer here. Make a checklist of things you need to get done, then go bullet by bullet. So simple yet so effective.
3. Harder things come first.
If you built yourself a to-do list (which you should), tackle your hard tasks first, don’t save them for last. If you finish them you have nothing to worry about as your tasks will only get easier. This will set a great outlook for the rest of the day and keep your mentality afloat.
4. Consolidate.
Take a look at your checklist and see if you can put somethings together. If you’re going out for errands, try to do them all at once, if you’re calling clients, schedule a period to do them all in one stint.
5. Early to sleep, early to rise.
Getting up at 6AM is a drag I’ll admit. However you’ll be surprised how much more you can get done as opposed to waking up at 2PM. Grab a coffee and go. Of course if you’re waking up earlier, you’re going to need more sleeping hours so going to bed a couple of hours earlier is a must.
6. Say “No”.
Carefully strategize your options and your goals (as well as your tasks). Say no to things that are outside those bounds that are not helping you meet your goals. Keep focused on the important tasks at hand.
7. Start now.
Stop holding off! You’re big projects will just get even bigger with time on their side. Dive in and take a chance, build or demolish your goals brick by brick.
8. Leave time for non-urgent (but necessary) activities.
Schedule time during your day when you work only on non-urgent yet necessary activities like e-mails, phone calls, paying bills, etc.
9. Each day is different, respect that.
What I like to do is prioritize my days differently. Friday is more relaxed so I can focus more on my general & fun projects while Mondays I focus on organizing and planning for the week ahead of me. Wednesdays I use as a marker to see how far I am and the type of progress I need to be showing.
10. Get a ‘The Office’ calendar.
The Office Calendar will at least remind you that it could be a lot worse ;-). Write down all your important meetings and to-do’s, stuff that you can’t fit on post-it notes.
11. Sticky notes wall.
I used to categorize all my tasks onto sticky notes. One sticky note per task. I then put them on the wall of my office as a big collage and when I finished one, I’d ‘X’ it out. This was a great way for me to visually see the progress I was making however it ended up taking up too much space.
12. Reward yourself.
Keep yourself motivated by setting rewards for completing big tasks. This could be anything from a movie ticket to a football game or a gift of some kind. This way you’ll have more push rather then just the obvious monetary gains.
13. Take breaks.
Another no-brainer. Give yourself time to relax and let your thoughts drift. If you’re workhorsing for twelve hours a day with no breaks, eventually you will go insane. Take the time to sit back and look at everything your doing to get some fresh perspective on it.
14. Do your shopping online.
Why run to the story when a diligent UPS or FedEx worker can carry it to your door? You’d also be surprised on how much you can save by shopping online. Here are some great store links:
http://amazon.com
http://half.com
http://overstock.com
http://bestbuy.com
http://newegg.com
15. Automatic bill pay.
Most banks offer this, take advantage of it! You’ll save that extra 1-2 hours paying your bills, spend it doing something more productive.
16. Direct deposits.
Most employers offer this now. Save that trip to the bank, having to wait in line to cash your check. Get it directly deposited every other Friday. Let your employers do the work.
17. The Pareto Principle.
Recently read up on a ‘improve your personal finance’ book and it covered the Pareto Principle. It basically states the 80-20 rule, which is that 80% of the value of a task comes from 20% of the effort. Focus the bulk of your energy on that critical 20%, and don’t spend too much time on the non-critical 80%. For more about the Pareto Principle, click here.
18. Review yourself at the end of the day.
Before you go home from work, sit down and run through your checklist. Be proud of the things you accomplished and focus on the things you left to be done. Sit back and re-organize your new objectives.
19. Make your workspace comfortable.
Use a chair that is ergonomic and conforms to your back. Be sure to get up and stretch every hour or so and make sure that you are working in good lighting.
20. Keep your software and hardware running smooth.
How are you going to get things done with tons of spywar and adaware on your computer? Make sure to keep your hardware and software and check and be security conscious. Want some good anti-adware and spyware tools? Check these out:
SpyBot
Ad-Aware
21. Use computer short-cuts.
Take the time to check out what the common keyboard shortcuts are. Stop using your mouse to copy and paste, use Ctrl+C, and CTRL+V! Here is a link to Common Windows XP Computer Shortcuts.
22. Set deadlines, use alarms.
My T-Mobile Dash calendar is overflowing with alarms, to-do lists and other things to keep track of my ideas, goals and tasks. Use alarms and deadline notifications to help you keep yourself in check.
23. Enjoy your meals.
Yep, you heard me right. Take the time out to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner properly with the necessary time to de-stress yourself from the common difficulties of a normal everyday life. Get back to reality and cool off. Food is crucial, if you are well fed and feeling good, you’ll be able to get a lot more done once you resume your work.
24. If you’re using FireFox, use these tools to improve your productivity.
LifeHack recently published this great article: Top 10 FireFox Extensions to Improve Your Productivity. Definitely a worthwhile read.
25. Coffee/caffeine.
Another no-brainer but it works. Without my coffee in the AM I can hardly keep away. Coffee keeps me focused and alive for the majority of the day (and it tastes good :)).
Two more for the road…
26. Break things up.
Kind of touched on this already but its worth noting again. Break things up. Those major daunting tasks will seem a lot easier when their smashed into bits and pieces.
27. Team up and stay focused.
Having someone either on your back or helping you will make you push yourself harder. However, don’t let this get in the way of the work - cut out the procrastination.
Original source of these tips can be found at http://cashbulge.com
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